ONE NIGHT IN SACRAMENTO
by Rebel8954
Summary: Dean wishes for Seth to get what he deserves. One should never make a wish lightly. Major character death...sorta. Aftermath of RAW 12/24/2018. Sequel to ONE NIGHT AFTER TLC.


"Want me to pick you up at the airport? We can go back and get your car later." Dean Ambrose stretched out on his bed with a comfortable sigh.

"And have to pay more parking fees?" Renee Young laughed. "I'm fine to drive home. The flight isn't that long."

"Okay, honey. I'll see you when you get here. Love you and be safe."

"I will. Love you, too." Renee chuckled as she hung up.

Dean casually tossed the cell phone onto the bed next to him. He'd filmed his promo a few days earlier since he wasn't scheduled for the Christmas Eve show. He decided to fly back to Las Vegas and finish wrapping Renee's presents under Blue's supervision.

The bulldog had definitely approved of the bright green wrapping paper.

He closed his eyes and relaxed. He wondered how much his promo had pissed Rollins off. "Shoulda asked Renee," he mumbled.

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Asked me what, babe?" Renee asked as she got into the car, slamming the door against the cold northern California air.

' _How pissed Rollins was over my promo.'_ Dean decided not to say that as he slowly drove across the parking lot. "If Graves was as much a douchebag tonight as he usually is." He glanced at his wife. "I can have a word with him. Or two or three."

Renee chuckled. "I can handle Corey Graves," she assured him. She relaxed in the passenger seat as their car pulled onto the street. "I'm glad it's a short flight home. I still have presents to wrap."

Dean chuckled. "You don't need to wrap presents for me."

Renee looked at him from the corner of her eyes. "Did you wrap mine?"

"Of course," Dean solemnly nodded. "Blue insisted."

Renee burst out laughing. Their bulldog was one of the most laid-back dogs she'd ever seen. She sincerely doubted if Blue…

" **WHAT THE HELL!"** Dean yelled as he stomped on the brakes. He instinctively put an arm across Renee's chest. He heard her cry out as the car came to a sudden stop as they saw a sixteen- wheeler truck slam into the side of an SUV a block ahead of them.

The SUV had entered the intersection with the green light and wound up skidding to the right down the street until it started sliding sideways and wound up crashing light post.

Dean hit the gas and quickly drove to the intersection. As he turned right, he saw the truck slowly coming to a stop.

"Dean, that's…" Renee began.

"Call 911!" Dean ordered as he put their car and park and jumped out to run to the smashed SUV. He knew those SUVs like the back of his hand. The WWE rented them for their talent. Always the same model SUV. Always black. Somebody he knew was in that SUV.

Reaching the SUV, he was aware of the driver slumped in the driver's seat. One glance at the driver's side of the car told him there was no way of opening either the front or rear door on that side. There was too much damage from the truck's impact. Both doors were caved in. Dean glanced up at the light pole which was leaning away from the SUV. At least if it fell, it wouldn't fall on the vehicle.

Running to the passenger side, he tried to open the door but found it locked. He looked through the window to see if the driver was conscious. Then he screamed, **"SETH!"**

"Here. We'll use this to break the window."

Startled, Dean saw several men standing close to him. One of them held a hammer. "We're working late doing renovations on a building down there." The man nodded over his shoulder. "We heard the crash and came out to see what was going on."

Dean nodded and the two men began slamming the hammers against the glass window. After a few blows, the glass cracked then shattered. Dean reached through the broken window and found the button inside the door to unlock the door.

"Watch out for that glass," the other man warned as he took the hammer from Dean.

Dean threw open the door and quickly swept most of the glass from seat before diving inside and kneeling on the seat next to the driver. "Seth! C'mon, open your eyes! Look at me!" he demanded as he gently patted Seth's face, fingers wiping blood from his face.

"Ambulance is coming. Oh, my God…Seth…"

Dean turned his head and saw Renee looking at them with a horrified look on her face. "Get out of here, Renee." When she hesitated, he barked, **"NOW!"** He saw her move away and turned his attention back to Seth. "Rollins! You open your eyes and look at me **now!** "

Outside the car, one of the men who'd come to help, looked at Renee. "You know him?"

Renee nodded, tears in her eyes. "A co-worker…close friend really." She took a deep breath.

"Maybe you should wait in your car?" the man gently suggested. He'd glimpsed the driver of the SUV and silently agreed with the man who'd helped break into the SUV that she didn't need to see anything else.

Renee silently nodded and walked back to their car. Sitting in the passenger seat with the door open, she found Triple H's number and called him.

Dean released the breath he'd been holding when Seth moaned and coughed. Then he caught his own breath when blood flowed from Seth's mouth. "Seth, don't move, okay? You hearin' me? Stay still but open your eyes." He hoped his voice sounded calmer than he felt then saw Seth's dark eyes slowly open and focus on him.

"Dean?" Seth mumbled.

"Yeah, it's me." Dean gently patted Seth's cheek. "Just stay still and relax. But you gotta stay with me, okay? Stay with me."

"Hurts," Seth groaned, closing his eyes.

"Seth! Stay with me!" Dean harshly ordered.

Seth forced his eyes back open. "What…did I mess up…match…"

"No." Dean took a deep breath. "Truck blew through a red light at the intersection and t-boned you." He stroked Seth's cheek. "You didn't do anything wrong. You didn't."

Seth frowned. "Don't remember," he muttered.

"Ambulance is on the way," Dean assured him. "Just stay with me."

"Wanna…"

Dean saw Seth's eyes begin to lose their focus and patted his cheek. "No! Look at me! Stay with me!" He saw Seth struggle to look at him. "You gotta stay with me, Seth. You can't go. You gotta stay for Roman…and Kevin. You can't leave Kevin, man. You can't leave…us."

Seth coughed again, blood running from the corner of his mouth.

"I'll tell you why, Seth, if you stay with me." Dean began babbling. "Swear to God, I'll tell you…straight up truth…no tricks this time…I'll tell you why…all of it…but you gotta stay." He heard the whine of the ambulance's siren and patted Seth's cheek a little harder. "Ambulance is almost here…please, Seth…God's honest truth, I'll tell you why if you'll just stay with me."

"Brother," Seth breathed then closed his eyes as a torrent of blood gushed from his mouth.

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

" **SETH!"**

Dean found himself screaming as he sat up in bed. Wildly, he looked around, finally recognizing his own bedroom in Las Vegas. He slowly leaned forward then fell to one side onto the bed, curling around himself. He panted hard, distantly hearing himself whispering "Seth" over and over.

When his phone began ringing, he sat up and stared at it in horror when he saw Renee's picture on the display. He took a deep breath and picked up the phone. "Renee?" he answered.

"Hey, babe. Just landed so I'll be home soon."

Dean took another deep breath. "Great. Good flight?"

"Yeah…are you okay?"

Dean rubbed a hand over his face. "Fell asleep watching some dumb movie. Phone startled me, that's all."

"You need me to grab anything on my way home?"

"No. Just be careful coming home, okay?"

"I will. See you soon. Love you."

"I love you back." Dean held the phone in a tight grip even after Renee had hung up. Hesitantly, he accessed Seth's Twitter account. He'd created a phony account and followed Seth under a false name to keep track of him.

He slumped against the headboard of the bed in relief when he saw a Twitter posting from only a few minutes earlier from Seth. A picture of Kevin asleep under a brightly lit Christmas tree. _'Kevin already asleep waiting on Santa to visit and me to get home.'_

Dean threw the phone back onto the bed. "Fucking nightmare," he grumbled as he forced himself to his feet. He walked into the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. Bracing his hands on the counter, he lowered his head and tried to control his breathing.

' _Well, you wished for him to get what he deserved.'_

Dean didn't even raise his head at the unfamiliar voice in his head. "He doesn't deserve that."

' _That's not your decision. You should be careful about what you wish for.'_

"What are you? The Ghost of Christmas Future?" Dean snarked. He could almost feel the silent shrug. "Get out of my head whatever you are."

' _You don't control as much as you think you do. Remember that.'_

" **GET OUT!"** Dean angrily yelled, finally raising his head to stare into the mirror above the sink. He could've sworn he saw the reflection of a shadow fading towards the window. He spun around but saw nothing.

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Halfway across the country, a green-eyed man slowly opened his eyes and stretched his muscles. A bottle of water appeared on the table in front of him. The candle flickered at he reached for the bottle. He silently nodded his thanks and drank all the water.

"You haven't done that in a long time."

He glanced up at his younger brother. "It's not pleasant," he admitted. "But he deserved a chance to understand."

"Do you think he does?" Kane curiously asked.

The Undertaker shrugged. "The real question is does he want to understand." He leaned forward and blew out the candle.


End file.
